U.S. PIRLS Reading Achievement Levels and Benchmarks 2021
PIRLS 2021 reports the share of U.S. students reaching four cumulative international reading benchmarks: Low, Intermediate, High, and Advanced. The U.S. results refer to the fourth-grade cohort assessed after entering fifth grade in fall 2021 and are based on the reported paper-bridge study.
U.S. PIRLS 2021 Benchmark Results
U.S. Reading Achievement Distribution
Non-overlapping achievement bands derived from the published cumulative PIRLS benchmark percentages.
The chart converts the published rounded cumulative shares into non-overlapping bands. Middle bands are calculated by subtracting the next-higher cumulative share, so the derived band percentages are approximate.
IEA PIRLS 2021 International Results in Reading, Exhibit 4.2.
Full U.S. Benchmark Data
PIRLS benchmark attainment is cumulative. A student reaching the High benchmark is also counted as reaching the Intermediate and Low benchmarks.
| United States | 95 | 81 | 52 | 18 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 2.1 |
The Benchmark Profile Narrows as Reading Demands Rise
- PIRLS benchmarks are cumulative scale anchors rather than separate U.S. proficiency categories. The same student can appear in several cumulative benchmark percentages because reaching a higher benchmark also implies reaching each lower benchmark.
- The derived distribution places most students between the Low threshold and the top of the High band, while a smaller share falls below Low and a separate top group reaches Advanced. This distribution view shows where students sit between benchmark cut points without double-counting the cumulative percentages.
- The 2021 U.S. result is not a standard fourth-grade administration. The intended fourth-grade cohort was assessed after entering fifth grade, and the United States reported paper-bridge results because of concerns about linking paper and digital achievement scores. Earlier U.S. PIRLS benchmark distributions should therefore not be treated as directly interchangeable with the 2021 distribution.
What the PIRLS Reading Benchmarks Represent
| Reading performance represented by the benchmark | ||
|---|---|---|
| Advanced | 625 | Students can integrate and interpret demanding literary material, evaluate language and composition choices, and work across complex informational text or online material by combining evidence, comparing ideas, and evaluating textual, visual, and interactive elements. |
| High | 550 | Students can locate important details, infer relationships among events and ideas, integrate information across a text, interpret some figurative language, and evaluate or connect textual and visual information in more demanding informational material. |
| Intermediate | 475 | Students can retrieve explicitly stated information, make straightforward inferences, interpret reasons for actions or events, identify central ideas, and connect supporting information across easier or moderately difficult texts. |
| Low | 400 | Students can retrieve explicitly stated information from easier literary and informational texts and make simple inferences about actions, ideas, or outcomes. |
Data Sources, Measurement and Comparability
Official PIRLS benchmark data
The benchmark percentages and standard errors are from IEA’s PIRLS 2021 International Results in Reading, Exhibit 4.2, which includes countries with delayed assessment schedules.
U.S. reporting basis
NCES reports that the United States administered PIRLS in fall 2021 to fifth-graders from the intended fourth-grade cohort. The United States reported paper-bridge study scores rather than the digital achievement scores because of psychometric concerns about linking the two modes.
Scale and benchmark meaning
PIRLS uses four international benchmark points on the reading scale: Low at 400, Intermediate at 475, High at 550, and Advanced at 625. Benchmark attainment is cumulative, and the skill descriptions are based on scale anchoring for literary and informational reading.
Sampling caution
The U.S. school sample did not satisfy PIRLS participation guidelines in 2021. NCES reports a school-level nonresponse bias analysis, and nonresponse adjustments are incorporated into the analytic weights. The reported U.S. results refer to the paper-bridge study sample.